Jason got to go to Mexico for two weeks in January, while I stayed in Utah and partied with family. Hopefully next year I will be able to go to Mexico with him- for the fun days, at least. I'm not really interested in pollinating corn!
Here's his take on the trip.
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I got back from Mexico last weekend and I thought some pictures might brighten up your day in the midst of the gloom of winter (at least it’s gloomy here).
This is where I spent the majority of my time. The corn was healthy, the weather was hot, and the days were long.
Life was a little easier, albeit stranger looking, with a corn geneticists gear (as seen below): big straw hat, thin long sleeved shirt (to keep pollen from landing on your skin and causing a huge rash), snap-on sun glasses, pollinating apron (carries paper bags, stapler, sharpie, knife, and anything else you may need in the field), shorts, and durable sandals. The view of the mountains wasn’t bad either.
When I wasn’t at the field I was at our hotel which was right on the beach. All the pictures below were taken from our hotel. The first one is the view from our balcony.
There were three days when I didn’t work on the field. I helped write a grant for a short-course that will go to Puerto Vallarta next winter so we spent three days exploring the area for things to do that would be interesting for students. On Day 1 we went into the mountains and found a cool little town with an agricultural school that we will visit next year. But before you get to the town you have to cross this crazy bridge in the middle of nowhere (see below). The bridge was built last year and before then you had to go down a small dirt road to the bottom of the valley and back up again. It was very dangerous and took an hour to drive.
On Day 2 we stayed at a 200 year-old hacienda with a large fruit orchard and no electricity (to maintain “authenticity”). We also explored another small town and went to the botanical gardens in Puerto Vallarta. Unfortunately, my camera battery died on Day 2.
Day 3 was awesome! We went on a tour that took us whale-watching and then to a secluded beach to snorkle and swim. The beach was gorgeous and the pictures from it look like they were taken from a magazine.
We’re definitely taking the students there next year. It was a long and busy two weeks and, while the weather was nice and the sunsets were gorgeous, I’m glad to be back with my family.
Dinnertime conversation
And just as a side note, Leah definitely isn't a toddler anymore. She is a sassy little preschooler, minus the preschool. Not that we haven't been looking into it, because this is the year that she'll start preschool! But she has really grown up in the last month or so. She says things like, "You don't say mean things to me" and "You need to say I'm sorry because I'm crying" She has her own agenda and opinions and tries my patience several times every hour, more so than ever before. 
